In many ways, the structure of music resembles that of language,
including the acoustic cues used to communicate emotion. In speech, sadness is
imparted through a combination of low fundamental frequency, dark timbre, and a
slow rate of articulation. As the acoustic properties of the xylophone are not conducive
to mimicking these cues, it seems to follow that composers would avoid attempts to
write “sad” music for it. We investigated this idea by comparing the repertoire of the
xylophone with that of the marimba – a similar instrument whose acoustic structure
permits a greater variety of timbres, pitch heights, and tone durations. An analysis of
repertoire drawn from the Percussive Arts Society database of recital programs reveals
that 60% of the tonal marimba examples surveyed were written in minor (nominally
“sad”) keys. In contrast, a parallel analysis of xylophone literature found minor keys
used in only 6% of the examples surveyed. Further investigation revealed that the only
examples of minor-key xylophone compositions included in this survey are in fact
typically performed on the marimba. The avoidance of minor-key works on xylophone
by both composers and performers is consistent with the idea that instruments
restricted to producing tones with short durations, bright timbres, and high pitch
heights are unable to mimic the speech cues used to convey sadness and/or depression.